


A Lesson in Love

by randomizer



Category: Parenthood (2010), The Giver - Lois Lowry
Genre: Crossover, Family, Gen, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-21 23:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/603289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomizer/pseuds/randomizer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jonas learns about "it's complicated" via the Bravermans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Lesson in Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [threeguesses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/threeguesses/gifts).



> This is a Yuletide Treat for threeguesses, as a thank you for some of the wonderful fics with which she's delighted me. When I saw her Yuletide prompts, I couldn't resist playing around with this (admittedly wacko) concept. But since I adore _The Giver_ and watch Parenthood devotedly, I had to do it.

“Last night I asked my father and mother if they loved me.”

The Giver looked at Jonas. “And what did they say?”

“They laughed and told me that I was not using language precisely enough. They said that _love_ is just a word that has no real meaning today. All they could say was that they enjoy me and are proud of my accomplishments.”

The Giver sighed. “Yes. Love is one of the many things that they cannot understand.”

“But they’re wrong!” The words burst forth from Jonas. “That memory that you gave me yesterday . . . it was so important, and so beautiful. It was peaceful and perfect. I wish that they could feel it, too.”

“Love _is_ beautiful, but it is not always as simple as it was in that memory. Love can also be . . . difficult. Remember the sled ride? Sometimes beauty can be painful.”

“Difficult?  How can something as warm and joyful as love be _difficult_?”

The Giver smiled at Jonas, a little sadly. “I think it is time for you to see. Lie down.”

Jonas felt himself entering a room, with people—a _family_ , he now knew—sitting around a table eating a meal.  They were talking in excited voices, interrupting each other and never apologizing for doing so.  Two of them, a male and a female, were older, but much livelier and more vital than The Old whom Jonas knew in the community. There was one female adult who might be their daughter, and a younger male and female who were older than the Twelves but not yet old enough to have finished their training and become full adults.  

“What do you mean, the engagement’s off?” The voice of the older woman was beginning to rise. “What happened in L.A.?”

“I told you we never should have let Mark be in the family portrait,” muttered the older man. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“Be quiet for minute, both of you. Drew, are you all right?” She addressed the younger male, worry in her voice.

“Fine.” He didn’t look at her.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to Drew,” said the younger female. “You just made him move. Where are you going to take him now? Back to the guest house?”

“Amber,  stop.  You don’t understand what happened.”

“Sure I do. It’s what always happens to you.”

“She’s right, Sarah,” said the older woman. “We love you, you know that, but you can’t keep doing this. You’re hurting yourself, and you’re hurting your children.”

Love, thought Jonas. None of this seemed like the calm, soothing warmth of The Giver’s holiday memory. But there was something there nonetheless, beneath the whiplashes of what they said to one another. Jonas was puzzled, searching for exactly the right word for what he was seeing. _Caring_ , he thought. They care about one another. But anger as well; they are very angry with each other. How could both of these things be true at the same time?

“It just . . . it wasn’t right.” The woman’s—Sarah’s—voice was thick.

“Mark loved you. He made that very clear.” The older woman’s voice said this sentence with certainty.  That word again, thought Jonas.

“Yes, he did. But it wasn’t enough. He . . . I . . .”

The girl—Amber—burst in again. “Mom, don’t you understand?  It’s _never_ enough with you.  You did this, didn’t you? It was that guy you work for, wasn’t it? Hank?”

Sarah didn’t answer, but the older woman did. “Sarah! What happened?”

The boy—Drew—suddenly stood up and started to leave the table. Jonas was fascinated by his rudeness and by the fact that nobody seemed to think it required an apology.

“Drew, stop . . .” Sarah put her napkin down and started after him. 

“Let him go,” the older man stopped her. “He needs some time to himself.”

“It’s a little late to think about Drew now,” said Amber. “He’s going to have to see Mark every day at school.  He also was really starting to like him.”

Sarah slumped back into her seat. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else I can tell you all. I messed up.”

The older woman’s voice became softer as she answered. “Did you break up with Mark because of Hank?”

“Mark thinks that I did.  I . . . don’t know. Hank is . . . it’s hard to explain.”

“He’s your boss, and you were engaged to someone else. It shouldn’t be all that hard to explain,” said the older man. He looked stern, but Jonas could feel that same _caring_ underneath his words.

“Zeek, enough,” said the older woman.  “That isn’t helping anything.”

“I’m just tired of this,” said Zeek. “She’s amazing and talented, and every single man she’s ever been with has kept her from it. I knew I never liked Mark.”

“Dad,” said Sarah, as if the words had burst from her. “This wasn’t Mark. This was me.”

“Did you leave him, or did he leave you?”

“He left me, but I didn’t give him much choice.”

The older woman looked at her. “So you . . . with Hank . . .?”

“No,” said Sarah. “But I might just as well have.  Mark told me that I run just as soon as I’m starting to be happy, and he couldn’t take it anymore. I can’t really blame him. You shouldn't either. He was more than I deserved, and he was lucky he figured that out in time.”  Sarah's voice and eyes were suddenly dull. Her mother reached across the table to touch her hand softly.

Jonas opened his eyes and lay on the bed, wondering about these people. Of all the memories he had received from The Giver, this was one of the most confusing.

“What did you perceive?” The Giver asked.

Jonas hesitated. “Anger. Some fear. And maybe . . . frustration? They seem very frustrated with one another.”

“Was there anything else?”

“Well, I could tell how deeply they feel about each other. They spoke of love, many different kinds of love. But it seemed very . . .”

“. . . complicated,” The Giver finished.

“Yes,” said Jonas. “Complicated. Is it always that way, with love? The family in your favorite memory did not seem complicated.”

“In the instant of that memory, on that holiday morning, it was not complicated. That does not mean that it did not become complicated for them two hours later. Love is joy, but it is also very difficult. Those who love can be hurt the most. It can feel simple and right, but it does not _always_ feel simple and right, not for anyone. And it can bring as much pain as it brings happiness.”

Jonas thought about this. He knew that his parents believed that the word love had no meaning at all. He had already been shown by The Giver that love did have a meaning, a very powerful one. But this family that he had just witnessed had helped him see that love actually had many meanings, perhaps more meanings than any other word he had learned so far. It might be confusing, but he wanted to understand as much as he could about what the word  _love_ actually meant.

Jonas thought of one other thing. “That family talks quite a lot, and they always interrupt each other.”

The Giver chuckled. “Yes, they certainly do that. If they had to apologize for it, it would take up a great deal of their days.”

“And that woman Sarah? She has been allowed to choose her own mate, and it has not made her happy.”

“No. It has not.”

“It isn’t really safe for people to choose mates for themselves. If she had applied for a spouse here, a suitable one would have been selected for her. It would have spared her a lot of pain.”

The Giver nodded, looking at him thoughtfully. Jonas was still uneasy. There was something about that family from back-and-back-and-back that was hard to dismiss.

“Giver?”

“Yes?”

“Do you remember that I thought that living all together in a family might be dangerous? I think the risk they’re all taking . . . it’s more than just the risk of a fire burning in a fireplace inside of a dwelling, isn’t it?”

The Giver nodded. “Yes. Love is the biggest risk of all. We gave up that risk when we chose Sameness. Do you think we did the right thing?”

Jonas did not know. He only knew that he needed to learn more. “What happened to that family?”

The Giver smiled. “That will have to be for another day. But it is a good memory, one that you will enjoy.”

Jonas smiled. He hoped that Sarah had ended up choosing wisely and well. 


End file.
